Michael Morales isn't on that list. But the Grammy-winning record producer and long-ago Top 40 artist
is making Fiesta news this year.

Morales will make a rare appearance as a performer at an unofficial Fiesta event, An Evening in '09, April 20 at Alamo Heights Swimming Pool with the Zots and the Navaira brothers (Emilio IV and Diego).

Morales, 50, says those big-hair cover band days have little connection to his “grown-up life.” He's married and the father of two sons, Jonathan and Jude, and operates Studio M and Rockstar Academy with his brother Ron Morales.

“That's kind of what happened,” he said. “But I miss it. I miss it every night. That was my whole life for a decade or more. It was just Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I knew where I was going to be.”

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The Fiesta gig is as close as fans can get to reliving those glory days with the Max. Morales will be playing the guitar rock and power-pop songs that he so loved back then. The show was put together by fans who used to see Morales rocking bars back in the day.

A party atmosphere is perfect, he says, “and makes sense.”

He'll play “a lot of the stuff that I used to play in the '80s with the Max and probably 'Who Do You Give Your Love To?'”

Don't ask him to do the Romantics song. He's played it too many times and never wanted to do it in the first place.

Baker is the famed British record producer behind the biggest hits by Queen, Journey and the Cars.

He worked on Morales' debut album, and the singer says his methods “were more like a psychologist.”

At a session, Baker asked Morales how he closed his shows. Morales mentioned he had a secret weapon song he considered “a dance floor magnet.”

In his best British accent, Morales mimicked the fateful question:

“'What's your dance floor magnet?'

“That's what he asked. I said, 'It's stupid. I don't want to tell you.'

“He said, 'Please.'”

Baker insisted Morales remake the song.

“That's how that happened,” he said. “I never should have said anything. But he was right — good news/bad news. That thing screamed up the charts. It was pushing Madonna and Prince out of the way.”

A music video for “What I Like About You” was shot at the Bonham Exchange. It's easily found on YouTube and totally worth it if only for the quick shots of a young, really long-haired, sleeveless Joe Reyes on whammy-bar guitar.

These days, a clean-cut Morales stays in shape by hanging out and singing with the kids at Rockstar Academy who want to plays songs by Disturbed, AC/DC and Green Day.

While he prefers the comforts and perfectionism of the recording studio, he says he liked being a star.

“The exciting things about the stage is that great element of the unknown, whether it's technical stuff, the crowd or the weather,” he said. “That part of it would always make me anxious because you can't control it like you can control a studio recording, which is what I've done for the last 18 years, make stuff exactly how I want it.

“But I almost feel like I was more comfortable playing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. I feel like I'm in my element.”

His brother, Ron, agrees.

“His talents are completely taken for granted” by the music community, he said. “Around here, we see how good he is.”

While his wife, Barbara, lived those fun times in the '80s when the Max ruled the scene, Morales' young sons don't quite get it.

The Grammy Awards, gold records, the MTV videos and Billboard charts on the walls at Studio M all came after Morales' earliest heyday.

“They don't really know much about that,” he said. “It's hard for them to know how famous or infamous I was. They have no point of reference. It was quite a scene, man.

“This is a chance to say 'Hey' to a lot of people that used to see us in the old days. But they'll be bringing their kids.”